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When people think of tech companies, the first major city to come
to mind is San Francisco. The City by the Bay is the closest
major hub in the Silicon Valley and itself plays host to the
likes of Twitter, Square and Uber. But the West Coast powerhouse
is seeing quite a bit of competition from the East Coast, New
York City. A study released this past spring by
HR&A Advisors and NY Tech Meetup, the New York
City tech ecosystem generates about half a million jobs and
$124.7 billion in annual output.

To see which city really has more to offer to new startups
seeking to establish a home base, I took to the streets (or
rather, my digital Rolodex) and asked startup founders, venture
capitalists and tech executives to share why their city was the
best. Here’s what they told me:

“In terms of technology startups, San Francisco
is the quintessential location, given the access to high quality
engineers, venture capitalists, superb universities and a
risk-taking culture that has taken about 50 years to cultivate,”
wrote Chris Haroun, a partner at San Francisco-based Artis
Ventures and a client of mine. “Also most other regions of
the world don't share ideas to the extent that Bay Area
technology companies do.”

“As part of the larger Silicon Valley, San Francisco is unique in
that startups are central to the culture and business climate of
the city,” wrote Kelly Wanser, founder and CEO of San
Francisco-based Stateless Networks. “Everywhere you go,
there are startup founders, investors and employees talking shop
and people, services and events to help startups grow and
thrive.”

Calling San Francisco as a major center of talent in technology,
engineering and business innovation, Wanser said “in my
industry, networking, it's the locus of all major players and the
geniuses and legends who shape the technology that drives
everything we're using, from chips to software to the Internet
itself.”

Yet Wanser allowed that New York City had its
advantages. “In certain spaces New York
City rules,” Wanser said. “For startups centered on design,
media, fashion, it's an unparalleled place. The energy,
aggressiveness and staggering creative talent may make it the
world's best place to have a startup in these fields.”

“The sheer diversity of New York City makes it a great place for
finding tech talent,” wrote Kevin Bijas, director of the New
York branch of Riviera Partners, a tech-focused recruiting
firm based in the Bay Area. “Startups thrive on scrappiness and
want people who don’t rely on a lot of set systems, processes and
resources to get stuff done. Plus, they need to move fast, like
this city and the people in it.”

One venture capitalist singled out San Francisco's attitudes
about failure, a fate that befalls many a startup.

“There is the notion that failure is OK in the San Francisco Bay
Area. In other areas, it is shameful to fail,” Haroun wrote. “The
thing is, sometimes you need to fail in order to be successful in
the long run.”

Others praised New York City's work vibe.

"New York has a reputation for being cutthroat and too tough, but
it is wonderful to see how genuinely supportive everyone in the
startup ecosystem is of each other here,” Aishwarya Iyer,
director of communications at New York-based ff Venture Capital,
shared by email. “There is a lot of camaraderie within the
tech community.”

“What I love about New York is the camaraderie. The tech group
here is close knit,” noted Amanda Bensol, vice president of
marketing and sales for Karma, a Big Apple startup that offers
a pay-as-you-go mobile Wi-Fi service. “Anyone is always one
or two degrees away and when contacted, more than willing to
listen and support you. New York City tech feels like a smaller
version of what is out on the West Coast, and so I perceive it as
a more approachable community.”

“New Yorkers tell it like it is and aren’t afraid to say
no," ff Venture Capital's Iyer said. This makes
the world of a difference for a startup, since they can just move
on, rather than live in a limbo state because they didn't receive
a straight answer."

“New York City is great but I like San Francisco better because
it’s a more livable city,” said Ryan Donovan, vice president of
corporate communications at San Francisco-based Practice Fusion,
which offers a cloud-based electronic health record platform.
“It’s easy to get around, the weather is perfect and there’s so
much that’s near us. Wine country, Tahoe, Mendocino, Monterey --
the list goes on and on -- all within minutes or a few hours.
It’s also a great talent market, particularly for technology
expertise.”

Both San Francisco and New York City have a lot to offer when it
comes to fostering growth in technology and providing an
inspiring environment. One thing’s for certain at the end of the
day: No one mentioned Oklahoma
City as the best place to launch a startup.

Agree or disagree with these opinions? What makes your
town great for a startup?